It\u2019s been my constant endeavour to have my children – yes, I have two<\/i> of them now – revel in the joys of new experiences.\u00a0As adults, we spend the rest of our lives reminiscing about the \u201cfirst time\u201d we experienced a specific phenomenon.\u00a0If we\u2019re lucky, we also get to add some \u201cfirst time\u201d experiences through our adult life.\u00a0Either way, memories of those experiences bring a sense of satisfaction and joy that knows no limits.\u00a0 That\u2019s why, every other week or so, I try to do something different with my daughter, instead of just going to the nearby mall each time.<\/p>\n
Last weekend, was particularly eventful.\u00a0 With the arrival of Tiger into our lives, the past few weekends had not been leisurely by any standards.\u00a0 That meant we had some serious catching up to do!\u00a0 Soon, a discussion with a friend culminated in an elaborate plan for the Sunday to come.\u00a0 He also had a four-year-old girl – Chiya – who he<\/i> was keen to go out with and do something educative and fun!\u00a0 She was about the same age as Pumpkin.\u00a0 So, we both hoped that the two could enjoy each other\u2019s company and soon become friends.<\/p>\n
We would first take our respective daughters to see \u201cpapa\u2019s office\u201d.\u00a0 Then, introduce them to each other.\u00a0 After they\u2019d warmed up to each other a bit, we would head off to an exciting food court at a nearby mall, so they could choose from an infinite variety of cuisines in a noisy, child-friendly place.\u00a0 After finishing off lunch, we\u2019d head to Nehru Planetarium for a sky show, and finally head home.\u00a0 This was the plan.<\/p>\n
And, it worked like a charm!<\/p>\n
Sunday came.\u00a0 And, we were all excited about the day that lay head of us.\u00a0 Pumpkin was excited to go see papa\u2019s office!\u00a0 She even insisted on having her \u201cmini snack\u201d on my revolving office chair at my desk.\u00a0 Then, we went to see Chiya and her papa in the adjoining building.\u00a0 A small colouring session with the office highlighters soon followed, and the two girls got to see each other\u2019s colouring talents at work.\u00a0 Soon, we headed off to the food court for a sumptuous meal of noodles, fried rice and chicken in black bean sauce.\u00a0 Of course, that was followed by generous portions of chocolate truffle and black forest. Finally, it was time to head towards the planetarium.<\/p>\n
In our enthusiasm, we reached the Nehru Centre half an hour ahead of time.\u00a0 The \u201cDiscovery of India\u201d exhibition was a short walk away.\u00a0 So, off we went to give the two four-year-olds a glimpse into their past.\u00a0 The most visually-interesting exhibits were those of cave men in prehistoric times and the prison life of freedom fighters in pre-independent India.\u00a0 The two girls were fascinated by what they saw there, even going \u201cbehind bars\u201d for a bit!\u00a0 Once that was done, we made our way to the planetarium\u2019s dome.<\/p>\n
When the time finally came to enter the planetarium, my friend and I were both keen on explaining the concept of \u201cwhere the stars go in the day time\u201d to the two little girls.\u00a0 We were also keen on preparing them for the fact that once they enter the big dome, it would get dark and they would be able to see stars in the daytime!\u00a0 In their enthusiasm, the girls deduced that, in the day time, all the stars go inside the big dome<\/i>!!!\u00a0 Be that as it may, the celestial trip was well worth the effort.\u00a0 A dazzling star show, huge photographs of the landscapes of Mars and the Moon covering several feet of the wall, large scale models of the solar system, etc. etc.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t know how much of this day, or such experiences, my little Pumpkin will remember, in the years to come.\u00a0 Some of my<\/i> fondest memories of my childhood have come from a few such experiences I enjoyed with my father when I was just a young boy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Who knows?\u00a0 One such visit may just spark her interest in becoming an astronaut or a physicist, some day\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It’s been my constant endeavour to have my children – yes, I have two of them now – revel in the joys of new experiences. As adults, we spend the rest of our lives reminiscing about the “first time” we experienced a specific phenomenon. If we’re lucky, we also get to add some “first time” experiences through our adult life. Either way, memories of those experiences bring a sense of satisfaction and joy that knows no limits. That’s why, every other week or so, I try to do something different with my daughter, instead of just going to the nearby mall each time…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-wonder-years"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naveen.bachwani.com\/beingdad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naveen.bachwani.com\/beingdad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naveen.bachwani.com\/beingdad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naveen.bachwani.com\/beingdad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naveen.bachwani.com\/beingdad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=397"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naveen.bachwani.com\/beingdad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naveen.bachwani.com\/beingdad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naveen.bachwani.com\/beingdad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naveen.bachwani.com\/beingdad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}